The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of initiation of excavations at Meadowcroft Rockshelter in southwestern Pennsylvania. Meadowcroft was the first serious challenge to the Clovis-first peopling model that had dominated American archaeological thought for decades. Generations of students have passed through graduate schools since the early excavations at Meadowcroft and most, regrettably, have never read any of the primary literature on the site. This presentation summarizes the salient aspects of the prehistoric record from Meadowcroft Rockshelter and discusses the role(s) it has played in the history of American archaeology.
